Saving the Spirit
by Serena Gemini
Summary: Chihiro wants nothing more for her 16th birthday than to see Haku again. She decides to go looking for him, but what she finds doesn't make her happy. Set five years after Chihiro left the spirit world.
1. Return to the Spirit World

Whoa, for once I'm not writing a Potter fic! Spirited Away is the name of the game this time, and I hope you like it…I haven't decided how far to take this story, maybe your reviews could sway my decision eh? Anyway —enjoy!

Summary: Chihiro was ten years old when she stumbled upon the spirit bath house. Its five years later, and she is approaching her 16th birthday. The one thing she wants is the one thing she doesn't think she can have.

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The morning sunlight streamed through the curtained window in Chihiro's bedroom. Rolling over in her bed, Chihiro opened her eyes and glanced at her alarm clock: 7:30. She groaned and sat up, stretching her arms out wide.

'Another night of dreaming about him…Oh what I'd give to see him again, especially today.' Chihiro thought as she put on her slippers and bath robe and got up to go eat breakfast.

"Happy birthday, Chihiro!" Chihiro's mother beamed when she saw her daughter come into the room.

"Thanks mom, what's for breakfast?" Chihiro asked as she sat down at the table next to her father.

"I thought I'd make you a special birthday breakfast of pancakes with fresh blueberries in them and maple syrup, does that sound good darling?" Chihiro's mother chirped happily.

"It sounds great Mom," Chihiro gave her mother a small smile, "thanks…But while you're cooking, I think I'm going to go take a walk outside."

"Just don't be too long Chihiro." Her father spoke up from behind his newspaper.

"I won't!" Chihiro called as she ran up to her room to get dressed.

Chihiro left her house and let her mind wander. She didn't realize where her feet had taken her until she ran out of paved road. Gasping slightly, she looked up and knew immediately; the little house-like shrines told her exactly where she was. She took a deep breath and looked once behind her. Her parents could wait; she had to get to the spirit world. With that thought, she broke into a run for the tunnel that would lead her to the bath house, and to Haku.

zzzzz

About a half an hour later, she emerged on the other side. She trudged up the grassy hillside, stopping for a quick breath at the crest. When she looked up, tears welled in her eyes.

It was just as she remembered it. The restaurants, the bath house, Kamaji's boiler tower. She darted up the stairs and through the streets, and finally came to the bridge that led to the bath house. "Here goes nothing…" she mumbled to herself as she stepped onto the bridge.

Chihiro took slow and deliberate footsteps, taking in everything around her. Once she was over the bridge, she decided to first go see Kamaji. She made her way to the boiler room, and sure enough found Kamaji inside.

"Kamaji, Kamaji, wake up! It's me, Chi—Sen." Chihiro hissed, remembering that he only knew her by the name Yubaba had assigned to her.

"Eh? Who's there?" Kamaji grumbled, waking up.

"It's Sen!" Chihiro said quietly.

"Sen! Yubaba had let you go years ago, why come back?" Kamaji sat up and took a drink from his teapot.

"I—I just had to. Kamaji, do you know where Haku is?" Chihiro cut right to the chase.

"Ah, you came to see Haku," Kamaji smiled briefly, "I haven't seen Haku in weeks, maybe a month…Not since Yubaba tried to enslave him again. Rumor has it that she trapped him in the bath house somewhere."

"What!" Chihiro cried, panic rising inside her.

"Lin might know more. She'll be here soon if you're willing to wait." Kamaji said gently.

Chihiro nodded and sat by the soot balls' holes, dozing off to sleep.

zzzzz

"What the—Sen!"

Chihiro was jolted awake when Lin came into the boiler room to give Kamaji and the soot balls their breakfast, "Hello to you to Lin…"

"What are you doing here Sen? And—whoa, you've really grown up!" Lin exclaimed as she watched Chihiro stand up.

Chihiro smiled, "It's my sixteenth birthday today."

"Well then, happy birthday…But still, what are you doing here?" Lin asked.

"I wanted to see Haku…I need to." Chihiro said, looking down at her shoes.

"Oh Sen…Yubaba has Haku locked up. It was the only way she could keep him around long enough to find a way to control him again. Before he disappeared, all he could think about was getting out of here. You were all he thought about ever since you left." Lin told Chihiro.

"No…" Chihiro breathed, her heart plummeting, "Do you know where she put him?"

"Actually, I do. For some reason, Yubaba put me in charge of giving Haku his food and water. I can take you there now, I'm about to go there." Lin grinned.

Chihiro's face lit up, "Oh please, take me to him!"

"Follow me then, but you can't let anyone else see you, I mean it." She said, quickly handing Kamaji and the soot balls their food.

Chihiro nodded and followed Lin as she left the room, "Thank you for letting me sleep here Kamaji, see you!"

"Good luck Sen…" Kamaji said, already eating his food.

Chihiro followed Lin up a flight of rickety old stairs and through a doorway on the landing. They walked down a dark hallway and through another door. On the other side of that door were what looked like a hundred steps…

"Ready?" Lin asked, glancing back at Chihiro.

"Yes…" Chihiro nodded and proceeded to follow Lin down the steep set of stairs.

Once at the bottom, Lin opened a hatch in the floor and climbed inside, "He's in here."

Chihiro felt tears stinging her eyes. She took a deep breath and climbed inside the hatch with Lin. Once she was down the hatch, she looked around. The room was small and cold. It was solely made of concrete, and had one tiny circular window covered with bars. The bars let in a little bit of the sunlight that seemed to be already fading from the sky. It was just enough to reveal a figure huddled in the corner of the room, apparently unconscious.

"Haku!" Chihiro cried, running to him and pulling him into her lap.

Lin set a bowl of rice and a cup of water next to Chihiro, "Please make sure he eats this Sen. I had Kamaji put a spell on it to give Haku some strength back."

Chihiro turned her head and gave Lin a watery half smile in response. Lin stared at her for a moment more, and then nodded before turning around and climbing back up the hole. Chihiro heard the hatch door close, but not lock.

"Please Haku, wake up…You've got to wake up. I need you! I can get you out of here so Yubaba can't hurt you anymore…Please, Haku…" Chihiro let her tears flow, sobbing into Haku's blood-stained shirt.

"Chi…hiro…" Haku murmured a few moments later.

Chihiro gasped and looked up to see Haku opening his eyes, "Haku, you're okay!"

"You shouldn't be here Chihiro…If Yubaba finds you…" Haku said, using every ounce of strength he had to speak.

"I don't care if she finds me Haku. I won't let her hurt you anymore!" Chihiro tried wiping away her tears, but more spilled from her eyes.

Haku smiled gravely, "I can't leave this world, not if I don't have a home to go back to."

"Haku, you've always had a home with me. Just let me take you from here, please." Chihiro begged.

Haku shifted in Chihiro's arms, "How do you propose we get past Yubaba and everyone else?"

"Zaniba." Chihiro answered.

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How do you like the first chapter? There's probably only going to be 4 more left. Okay, I want lots of pretty litte reviews! Thanks! 


	2. Break Out

Chapter two! Yay!

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Chihiro sat Haku up against a wall and grabbed his food, "Here, you need to eat. It'll help." 

Haku let out a short laugh, "Déjà vu, eh?"

At first Chihiro didn't know what he was talking about, but then she remembered her first day working at the bath house when he took her to see her parents. He'd brought her enchanted rice cakes, "Yeah…" Chihiro smiled.

Haku managed to eat half of the rice and most of his water. He had enough strength to stand with help from Chihiro.

"I think that you should stay here while I figure out a way to get to Zaniba. It would be safer that way." Chihiro said holding onto Haku, who was now quite a bit taller than her.

"I think you're right…" Haku groaned.

"I'm going to take you to Kamaji though so he can watch over you while I am gone. You'll be safe." Chihiro led Haku slowly up and out of the hatch.

They made their way to the boiler room and crawled through the door.

"Sen, Haku!" Kamaji exclaimed.

"Kamaji, can I leave Haku here with you while I go and ask Zaniba to help me get him away?" Chihiro laid Haku down in the same spot where he'd recovered from Zaniba's spell five years before.

"Yes, yes child of course you can. He'll be safe here." Kamaji took a ragged old blanket and draped it over Haku.

"Thank you," Chihiro smiled and bent down to be eye level with Haku, "I'll be back soon I promise. Just hold on…"

"Chihiro…" Haku grasped her hand as she stood to leave again, pulling her back.

"Yeah?" Chihiro's voice shook.

"Be careful…Please..." Haku whispered, losing strength again.

"I will, just--" Chihiro started, but Haku cut her off.

"Chihiro, I love you." Haku's voice was barely audible. He was slipping unconscious yet again.

"Haku…I love you too! Just hang on, I'll save you. I will…" Chihiro placed a light kiss on Haku's cheek and ran from the boiler room, tears threatening to fall.

zzzzz

Chihiro knew that Yubaba would not be in yet, but she would be soon. She had to get to that nursery, and she had only minutes to do it. She sped up several flights of stairs, purposefully avoiding the elevators and public. Finally, she reached Yubaba's home. She sneaked in and slipped into the nursery.

"Baby, Baby, are you here?" Chihiro looked around.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling noise from under a pile of cushions. After a moment, a gigantic baby emerged, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Who are you?" he said loudly.

"It's Sen Baby, I've grown up some since you last saw me." Chihiro said, hoping that Baby would believe her.

"Sen!" Baby exclaimed after a moment.

"Baby, I need your help very badly. Haku is in trouble, and I need Zaniba err—Granny to get him out of it. Do you know how to reach her?" Chihiro explained quickly.

"Yes I do, she gave me a seal that I can use to talk to her," Baby said, fishing out a silver object from the pile of cushions, "Use it."

"How?" Chihiro took the seal from Baby.

"Squeeze it and talk." Baby said.

Chihiro did as she was told and squeezed, "Granny!"

Suddenly a transparent figure sprang up in front of Chihiro, "Yes—Why, Chihiro! How are you?"

"Not so great Granny…Haku's hurt, I think he's dying and Yubaba's been holding him captive. I need to get him away from the bath house before I lose him all together. I just need some help getting him past everyone else unnoticed." Chihiro explained sadly.

"Oh dear, let me think…There is one spell that I could give you. It's extremely dangerous; you and Haku would have to have complete trust in each other for it to work. If you don't, he will die." Granny said, thinking hard.

"I have to try…" Chihiro said her voice cracking.

Zaniba told Chihiro the spell and how to use it and wished her good luck, "If you need to, you can come to me if you need to run anywhere and can't get out of this world."

"Thank you Granny, see you!" Chihiro bowed quickly as Zaniba vanished.

"Good luck Sen." Baby said as Chihiro thanked him and ran from the room as fast as her legs could carry her.

zzzzz

"Kamaji, I'm back! Kamaji, what's wrong?" Chihiro burst through the boiler room door to find Kamaji bent to the floor, head in hands.

"Sen…Its Haku. He—He's about to pass. He is barely breathing." Kamaji got up on his work table and let Chihiro look at Haku.

He looked dead already. His face was paler than it had ever been before, and he was hardly breathing. Chihiro had to concentrate to see the rise and fall of his chest. Immediately, she burst into tears and ran to Haku's side.

"No, please don't die Haku…You can't leave me now, not like this! I found a way to get you out of here; you just have to trust me. Please hear me Haku, just trust me!" Chihiro cried.

Remembering the spell Chihiro cleared her mind, "In the name of trust and love, hold Haku to me and hide him."

Chihiro took Haku's hand and he slowly vanished. Chihiro gasped and stood up. She checked herself over to make sure she was alright, which she seemed to be.

"Where did he go?" Kamaji looked around for any sign of Haku.

"He's…inside of me. He's in my soul," Chihiro managed to say, "I have to go, I don't have long before the spell wares off."

Kamaji looked around again, "Well I'm betting that the river has filled in by now Sen. You won't be able to leave until at least the morning."

"That's fine. So long as I can get him to Zaniba's place, Haku will be okay. I have to go now, thank you for everything Kamaji. Tell Lin I said thank you too." Chihiro ran for the door to the outside. Kamaji nodded and waved as she escaped the bath house.

Chihiro got to the train tracks and began to run. She knew no other way to get to Swamp Bottom. She didn't have any tickets, and it was too dangerous to wait and see if the conductor would let her have a free ride. She ran with all her might, and before she knew it, she was at the sixth stop.

"Whew, so close…" Chihiro panted. She could feel Haku's spirit inside her. She knew he was very weak, but he was still alive. "…hold on Haku."

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So, what did you think? I am really having a good time writing this story, and I'm glad that the reviews I've got have all been positive. There's two or three chapters left in the story…We'll see. Okay, time for you to review! 

Serena Gemini


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